Seattle Speaks: The Case for the Sounders

Last week, we reported that MLS had balked at the idea of offering the name Sounders as one of the choices in the online poll to pick the name of Seattle’s new MLS team. Fan pressure, though, seems to have contributed to a decision to allow a write-in choice, and a movement has started for Sounders as the choice.

A conversation with a Seattle soccer fan should be familiar to supporters worldwide. There is much use of terms like “tradition” and “history,” and most invoke the same vivid memories, dating back four decades in some cases, of ludicrous attachment and childhoods immersed in ticket stubs and team memorabilia. The sense of community, even between generations, is palpable, and it is all tied together with the Seattle Sounders name.

Even with the vagaries of American pro soccer, which have seen the Sounders history bounce between leagues, the continuity is clear in the minds of the fans. Younger First Division (USL-1) Sounders supporters like Clayton Hanson, who know the NASL only through websites and bar stories, still see those teams as their own.

According to him, “because of the name, the colors and the bits of institutional continuity, I could put myself in the shoes of some other anonymous schmo watching the NASL Sounders advance to the Soccer Bowl to face Pele and the Cosmos.”

This sense of history isn’t unique in American sports, but in American soccer it is nearly nonexistent and something to be prized on that basis alone. Sounders, as MLS would have it, is a name and (more importantly) brand with a fixed context.

But the clear message from Seattle fans is that, in the words of David Falk, operator of the Goal Seattle website, Sounders “is the only name that represents soccer in Seattle.” The community, history, and civic pride go along with the name in all of its uses, from the NASL days forward. In the words of lifelong Seattle soccer fan Jared Hooper, “If you take away our name, you are asking fans to archive decades of memories.”

Many fans also see the pro-Sounders effort as a campaign on behalf of fans across the league as well as in MLS. Sons of Ben president Bryan James has urged his members to vote for the name in solidarity, saying:

I think that the recent wave of expansion has actually forged supporter groups together. We will hate each other during the season, but at the end of the day, we are all American soccer fans who want what is best for the sport. Sounders is one of the few names to survive the transition from NASL to minor league soccer and continues to go strong. For American soccer fans, the name should represent an opportunity to continue a tradition in a nation that so sorely lacks it.

And Sean, one of the leaders of Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters, emphasized the importance of the fight for future markets entering the league:

This is not just about MLS in Seattle, this is about the entire MLS and US soccer. What happens when Montreal, Portland, and/or Vancouver come into the league? Should they have to abandon their history because MLS/Garber do not want to recognize soccer tradition before 1996? I understand building a league for the future. That said, you can also build for that future through solid connections to the past.

Such are the reasons that Seattle fans have campaigned for MLS to bring the Sounders name along with the USL team’s owners and players. Particularly on fan sites like BigSoccer, Seattle fans have been urging locals and soccer fans across the country to cast write-in votes for Seattle Sounders. Sixteen hours into the voting, which started on Thursday morning, the poll had registered 6,300 votes from across the country.

There is no indication as to which name has the upper hand, though certainly the campaign has been noticed. During last night’s MLS First Kick broadcast, commissioner Don Garber acknowledged the support that Sounders had recieved and mentioned the write-in option on the team’s vote, almost a first among official statements on the poll.

Says David Falk of the vote: “This is a write-in vote for “Seattle Sounders,” but it would also send a loud message to Don Garber and MLS owners that fans matter, and that our country has a tradition in this sport before MLS that they need not avoid or ignore.” He is right, and Sounders is the correct choice for the city and the league.

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March 30, 2008 at 5:39 pmMax J. Rosenthal

Go for it. Not a problem.

March 30, 2008 at 7:49 pmpapa bear

the biggest thing working against using the ‘sounders’ name is the NASL. There are a large segment of people who say ‘MLS? Oh that’s like NASL it’ll probably fold after a few more years so there is no point getting into it’ They made one exception with San Jose and that hurts their case, but you have to kinda understand their position of not wanting every team named after NASL teams.

P.S. The group looking to bring Montreal into the league have already decided to dump the ‘impact’ name, so there is one who wants to have a unique identity moving forward.

it really isn’t the ned of the world. BIG teams in the US with lots of history have changed/tweaked their names and it hasn’t killed them. Boston Red Stockings? Chicago White Stockings anyone? I’d say they are both still pretty popular despite the change of name to update with the times.

March 30, 2008 at 9:04 pmMax J. Rosenthal

I’m very much with Stan on this one, papa bear. Two NASL names of 14 hurts no one, especially when the meaning goes far beyond NASL as in the case of Seattle (or the Timbers or Whitecaps, should they join one day). And there’s a large argument to be made that people who dismiss MLS as NASL reincarnate probably don’t care at all what the names are.

I’m actually usually a sucker for the “traditional” names, by the way. Case in point: the very obvious Olympique Montreal would suit me very nicely.

March 30, 2008 at 8:40 pmHaig

Forget about L’Impact, Papa Bear. If there’s more Canadian expansion, I vote for a resurrection of “Manic de Montréal.”

March 30, 2008 at 8:45 pmStan

I sort of understand the distancing from NASL, papa bear, but at year 13 we’re getting a little past that point. MLS can now be confident enough that it isn’t in that league’s shadow to embrace the relative handful of names with some tradition (“Impact” btw was not an NASL name). The other thing is that the two names other than FC were that annoying “we gotta be different” trend that gives you neither a traditional US sports name nor a traditional soccer name. This is the kind of thinking that gave us 13 different spellings of Shaniqua (or is it Shaneequa? Shaneekua?)

March 31, 2008 at 2:02 amSammy Sounder

I want to make sure that everyone goes to http://www.mlsinseattle.com and VOTE for Seattle Sounders! This is especially true for the Sounders rivals, the Vancouver White Caps. They are PISSED that we got to the MLS before they did, but they won’t be far behind. Vancouver’s a large city that deserves an MLS team. The White Caps deserve promotion.

The Sounders and White Caps have a historic rivalry, complete with the Cascadia Cup. We won’t face each other in the league for the first time in years. This would make me sad if this promotion to the MLS wasn’t the most complete victory that any team has had over a rival.

There’s nothing wrong with changing the name if the club so desires. But they shouldn’t be strongarmed by MLS into doing so.

If Montreal wants to change the club name, so be it. That’s their choice. Seattle obviously does not want to.

I’m sure “stockings” was dropped because there came a point in the time when no one said “stockings” anymore.

March 31, 2008 at 7:21 amBrooklyn Chris

Not all NASL names need come back, but many are perfectly fine and with teams that are currently playing, it should be a no-brainer. Add Portland Timbers to the Vancouver White Caps as teams that are active and have living identities with some fine fans. NY Cosmos would be a bit of a stretch if the team was situated in say Queens when the history was all over in Jersey and died by1983, but Sounders is so obvious it was an insult to all of Seattle to try to strongarm a change. The team won championships in the NASL, the team won the USL title like LAST SEASON. It is owned by this same guy Hanauer who is part of the Seattle MLS ownership group. MLS missed the mark when they failed to consider one of the most important financial aspects with basic product identification: Sounders is a winning name, and the nostolgia merchandising prospects are a big element that should not be foolishly overlooked. The fans will rightly fix this situation.

March 31, 2008 at 8:00 amHaig

Chris, you’re not wrong that the Cosmos greatest success was at the Meadowlands from 1977 on, but keep in mind that two of Pele’s three seasons with the team were when they were located in NYC (Downing Stadium RIP and Yankee Stadium).

March 31, 2008 at 10:57 amAbby

But what if you’re from Seattle and…don’t like the name Seattle Sounders? I don’t.

March 31, 2008 at 1:25 pmBrooklyn Chris

Haig, you are right about Downing Stadium and Yankee too. Pele scored a memorable bike at the Stadium that used to get replayed all the time. I like the earlier point that MLS has already logged twelve seasons and has obvioulsy done enough things correct to quell any NASL foldup fears. If the current ownership groups of Vancouver or Portland are able to accomplish a de facto promotion to the top tier why worry about the names having some nebulous past stigma, which is entirely false. You may recall Pele’s last official game was the Soccer Bowl in Portland at the same joint the Timbers still play in, and their opponent I believe was the seattle Sounders.

Hi Brooklyn Chris. I do agree with you that not all NASL names need to come back. However, as a long-time fan of the Vancouver Whitecaps and North American pro soccer, there are a good handful of old teams and names that do need to be resurrected. And the New York Cosmos is at the VERY top of the list. We’re not talking about the Rochester Lancers or the Washington Diplomats here. This was a franchise that had a cult following. The team was either loved or hated(in a friendly way of course). They were the face of North American pro soccer and they can be again. I’ve said this many times on other blogs and I will say it again: The NASL may have failed as a league, but its legacy and the impact it had on the game in the U.S. was a huge success. MLS needs to build on that. Metrostars and Red Bull NY don’t have that “magic” that was felt during the Cosmos era. The Cosmos “Clap, Clap, Cosmos” theme needs to be heard. Here in Vancouver, our current Whitecaps team used to be called the Vancouver 86ers because of Expo 86 and Canada’s lone appearance in World Cup ’86. They were a good team, but there was a huge demand to bring back the classic and historic Whitecaps name. Since then, it was like as if the original Whitecaps had never folded. If MLS is to succeed in the long-run, it needs to have a connection to the good and great from the past. In order to know where you are going, you have to know where you have been. I also feel that it’s time for Toronto FC to bring back the Blizzard name. Today’s young generation of soccer fans will have an appreciation for the history and what good came out of the NASL. They need to know something about legends like Georgio Chinaglia, Kyle Rote Jr., and George Best. Teams like the Sounders, Whitecaps, and especially the Cosmos, have a huge marketing appeal because of their history and their legacy. If MLS were to realize this, they can then “move forward” and the NASL legacy will live on at the same time. MLS and North American soccer fans will be the biggest winners in the long-run.

March 31, 2008 at 9:38 pmTimoteo

I’m with the Sounders. And when the Portland gets its deserved team, it should be the Timbers. Those names have a tradition of success and winning on the field. The off field financial troubles will not factor in the fans eyes. I still talk to people who knew nothing about soccer in the 70’s who absolutely adored the Timbers and were passionate fans. Why would you want to throw this away? As other posters say, American soccer has few enough traditions and roots. Why would you want to ignore the little that you have? The cities that don’t have good memories of the NASL will naturally want to pick another name. But let those that do build on that tradition.

For Abby, whatever the club is called, I have vowed to support SEATTLE. I am going to have to grow to love ‘Alliance’ or ‘Republic’ if those are chosen…I guess you’ll just have to grow to love “Sounders” if that is the name.

Either way, you’ll find something to love about the team, if not the name.

April 1, 2008 at 11:47 pmSammy Sounder

“Seattle Sounders” is like “Philadelphia Phillies”. It’s not a good name, in fact, it’s kinda a cr*ppy name, but that’s not the point.

The point is it’s our name.

April 2, 2008 at 12:16 pmJason

Exactly, now is the time to get rid of a crappy name. 100 years from now, will Seattle fans care about 30 so-so years prior to MLS to possibly 100 solid years in the MLS? I say to ditch the little-league name and go with something professional/global.

The vote to adopt “Seattle Sounders” was a global one, Jason. People from all over the world wrote in the name. In England it is just expected that our club is called that. Many press stories at the time of the expansion announcement mistakenly said the “Seattle Sounders” were granted an expansion franchise. The name is culturally ingrained beyond Seattle.

April 2, 2008 at 3:15 pmPete

I couldn’t believe the MLS was ruling out the Sounders – I was in shock. I voted for the Sounders, and have a theme song in mind too.

And until the Timbers and White Caps are in the MLS as well, it will be only a partial victory. Is Stevie Buttle available at midfield?

I wonder if anyone in the MLS knows what attendance was like in the early 80’s? I hope it’s close going forward. GO SOUNDERS!

April 2, 2008 at 5:43 pmRyan

You know, in 100 years, Seattle will still sit on Puget Sound (well, if global warming doesn’t wipe us all off the map). So in 100 years, “Sounders” will still have relevance because it’s a geological feature. And the ingenious fact about the name is that it encompasses an entire region with the region’s main city, something you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere (Golden State…it would be nice, if there weren’t another 3 pro NBA teams in the Golden State). The team will draw fans from Olympia to Everett, which is a good 5+ million people, who all live on the (say it with me) PUGET SOUND. The name is timeless, classic and unique to the area (three things the new MLS owners wanted in a name), and it doesn’t matter what leagues the Sounders have been in. I became a fan in 1994 when they joined the APSL…stayed a fan when the league changed to the A-League and USL-1, and will be a fan in the MLS. Not too often a brand new team can have a slogan like “Tradition from the opening kick.” GO SOUNDERS! (and yes I voted).

April 5, 2008 at 4:45 pmBrooklynYiddo

SammySounder, Seattle Sounders in not like Philadelphia Phillies. It’s closer to New York Knickerbockers (Knicks) in that it refers to the local community. It’s iconic and unique to the area.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies are coming back too, to USL Division 1, in 2010! There’s a giant black hole in Tampa Bay area soccer that has existed since the Rowdies stopped playing in 1993, and MLS and the Mutiny could not fill that hole. The Rowdies were arguably the NASL’s second most successful team after the Cosmos (notice which team gets mentioned the most after the Cosmos in the Once In A Lifetime documentary) and it was criminal that they were spurned by MLS after keeping the flag flying in Tampa so long after the demise of the NASL. I think that thanks to our victories with the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders names, as well as the continued existence of the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps in USL, that people are starting to clue in to the fact that tradition and history matter in American soccer, and that yes, we do have some tradition and history in American soccer, and it’s worth keeping it alive.